As a 26 year old reporter covering the Nixon campaign in l968, Joe McGinniss would go on to write one of the seminal works of political reporting.  The Selling of the President 1968 would portray the next level of media in politics.  If the televised Nixon/Kennedy debate set the stage, the 1968 Nixon campaign and the work of a young Roger Ailes, as reported by McGinniss', would be main event.

McGinness would go on to write about many other controversial characters, both in the annals of politics and true crime.  His reporting on Jeffery McDonald and his battles with Janet Malcolm would put him at the center of a media and literary storm.  His last political work, a look deep inside the shallowness of Sarah Palin, would be fitting capstone for his political reporting.

Over the years, I spoke to McGinniss several times.  Here are the two most recent.  His look at Palin and his story Never Enough that captured the dark heart of modern family greed and averse.

Never Enough11/2/2007

The Rogue: Searching for the Real Sarah Palin10/10/2011